Florida-Florida State game moving to Friday night in 2022

Florida’s annual matchup with Florida State will be played on Black Friday in 2022 before reverting back to Saturday in 2023.

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Florida’s Thanksgiving weekend matchup against the Florida State Seminoles is one of the great traditions in college football, but that tradition will be altered a bit this year it seems.

The rivalry game which is traditionally played on the Saturday following Thanksgiving will be moved to Black Friday, FSU announced in its schedule release for the 2022 season on Monday. This will mark the first time Florida has played a game on a day other than Saturday since playing Mississippi State on a Thursday night in 1992.

According to GatorCountry’s Ethan Hughes, the game is likely to be nationally broadcast in prime time by either ESPN or ABC. Since the 2022 matchup is in Tallahassee, the ACC television contracts decided the time and date. Florida announced that the 2023 game in Gainesville will return to Saturday.

Given the diminishing significance of the rivalry in recent years, this seems like an attempt to reestablish interest in the game and put it in front of a bigger audience. Florida has won the last three games in the series, which it holds a 37-26-2 all-time lead in.

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